Allie McConnelee celebrates the first of her two home runs in Dobyns-Bennett’s 10-0 win over Jefferson County in Monday’s Region 1-4A softball semifinal.
Allie McConnelee celebrates the first of her two home runs in Dobyns-Bennett’s 10-0 win over Jefferson County in Monday’s Region 1-4A softball semifinal.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Allie McConnelee celebrates the first of her two home runs in Dobyns-Bennett’s 10-0 win over Jefferson County in Monday’s Region 1-4A softball semifinal.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett teammates celebrate Hailey Porter’s two-run home run in a 10-0 win over Jefferson County.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett pitcher Julianne Tipton threw a no-hitter over five innings.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett's Sophie Dean safely makes it to third base in the Lady Indians' Region 1-4A semifinal win over Jefferson County.
KINGSPORT — Dobyns-Bennett was so overpowering at the plate during Monday’s 10-0 win over Jefferson County in the Region 1-4A softball semifinal that one could argue it overshadowed a no-hitter by ace pitcher Julianne Tipton.
Allie McConnelee blasted two home runs and nearly had another. Hailey Porter had a two-run homer and ended the game with the mercy rule in five innings with her two-run double.
Overall, the Lady Indians (29-11) had 13 hits, six for extra bases, in the win at Indian-Highland Park. They advanced to Wednesday’s Region 1-4A championship game against Morristown West, and also to the sectional round for the second time in three years.
“It’s really hard to have the mindset after you hit a home run just to put it into play,” McConnelee said. “When you swing the bat well, it’s going to go where it’s going to go.”
McConnelee, who finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored was referring to her last at-bat when the ball bounced off the right field fence. Porter joined her in causing the Lady Patriots all kinds of trouble. She finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored.
“It’s a great feeling to end the game,” Porter said. “We had a great performance from ‘J’ on the mound and Allie came up big with her two home runs. It feels wonderful to get back to the sectional. I feel we have a chance to take it all the way.”
Near the bottom of the lineup, Claudia Maness was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Tipton and Sophie Dean also joined in the act with two hits apiece. Tipton was equally impressive in the circle with nine strikeouts, giving up the no hits and two walks.
“When we’re hitting as well as we just hit, I’m OK with being overlooked,” said Tipton, an Arizona State signee. “I should be overlooked when we’re hitting that well. I feel I have two go-to pitches against a team that’s never seen me before. One of them is hard to hit and the other is harder to hit.”
Dobyns-Bennett coach Andy Hubbard talked about his team being hard to beat, especially when they’re hitting the ball like they were Monday night.
“They’ve played together for four years. They’re playing better than they have the whole time they’ve been up here,” Hubbard said. “The difference from all the years we’ve coached here, everybody is contributing. My girl in right field is making some great catches. Claudia is batting eighth and she keeps getting big hits. Everybody is contributing at some point.”
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